Real estate agents and property tax assessors examine the square footage of a home to determine its value. Most often, real estate agents only have interest in the interior livable space, but the exterior measurements can play a role in calculating the amount of property tax owed. Those who want to protest their taxes or sell their house will need to know the square footage of the property, both inside and out.
Instructions
1. Identify the livable space in the house. Look for easily accessible, finished rooms supplied with heat sufficient for year-round habitation. Do not include open porches, chimneys, unfinished basements or attics or bay window spaces.
2. Measure the interior walls of all the livable spaces in the home. Round to the nearest inch and convert the measurements in feet to total inches. Multiply the number of feet by 12 and add the additional inches. For instance, a room with a 5-foot, 3-inch wall equals 63 inches for the wall. ((12 x 5) + 3 = 63).
3. Draw the interior dimensions of each room on a sheet of graph paper. Label the room for which the measurements belong by writing it on the paper. Repeat for every livable room in the house, both upstairs and down.
4. Calculate the interior square footage by multiplying the width and length of each room. Add the totals from each room together to get the total interior square footage of the home.
5. Repeat Steps 2 to 4, but this time measure the exterior walls of the house. Draw these measurements on the same sheet of graph paper with the diagram of the livable spaces. Convert the measurements to total inches for the length and width of the house. Multiply these together to determine the exterior square footage of the house. Remember that exterior and interior measurements differ since the wall space adds extra inches to the exterior lengths.
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